Home help to be studied

Press, 15 July 1983, Page 5

Home help to be studied

The training, support and employment outlets of home help will be examined by a working party of Christchurch groups. The groups began meeting last month under the guidance of the Mayoress, Lady Hay, to discuss the inadequacy of home help in Christchurch. Since the group’s first meeting a research worker has been appointed to the North Canterbury Hospital Board’s community care organisation for 12 months to conduct research on home help. The working party established at the meeting yesterday will look at training and support, and employment outlets.

Convening the working party is Mrs Annette Harris, the chairman of the District Council of Social Services. Groups taking part include the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers, Nurse Maude, Pregnancy Help, Parents Centre, the Aged People’s Welfare Council, Plunket, and the Christchurch Polytechnic.

Earlier, representatives from the departments of Labour and Social Welfare and the Christchurch Polytechnic outlined to the meeting what was available in training home help, funding that training, criteria for provision of home help, and possible developments in home help training. The ' Christchurch Polytechnic runs a 16-week child training course under the auspices of the Labour Department. This course is open to unemployed people aged 17 to 25. A polytechnic tutor, Ms Kathleen Guy-Dingnis, said that she hoped the Education Department would take over the training course from the Labour Department so that people who did not meet the present criteria would no longer be excluded.

“We would be able to cater to the needs of the community rather than just the young unemployed,” Ms Guy-Dingnis said. The young unemployed would still be included, she said.